Iran hopes nuclear talks would lead to sanctions removal

Iran Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, has expressed hope that Iran’s nuclear talks with the group of six world powers would result in the removal of sanctions against Tehran.
“We hope that Iran’s negotiations with the members of the P5+1 group (of six powers) would finally lead to the removal of sanctions,” said Afkham in her weekly press conference on Tuesday.
“We hope that based on our political determination and goodwill and [the fact that] we have entered the talks with seriousness, [the talks] would achieve effective and favorable results in line with the inalienable rights of the Iranian nation,” she added.
Afkham also expressed optimism that any concerns the six powers might have about Iran’s nuclear energy program would be allayed in the course of the negotiations.
Iran and the six world powers -- Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany -- will resume the nuclear talks in Geneva on Wednesday, November 20. The last round of the negotiations was held earlier this month in the Swiss city.
Zarif’s visit to Italy
Afkham also pointed to the planned trip by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to Italy and said Zarif will visit Rome before he heads to Geneva for the next round of nuclear talks.
During the trip, Zarif and his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino will discuss bilateral relations, the developments across the Middle East, including the Syrian crisis, and Tehran’s ongoing nuclear talks, she said.
The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman described Italy’s position on Iran as “realistic” and noted, “Such a viewpoint will prepare the proper ground for cooperation between the two countries to move in a better direction.”
Tortured Iranian in AzerbaijanCommenting on reports about the torture of an imprisoned Iranian national in Azerbaijan, Afkham said, “We are very distressed about this and the Azeri officials must be answerable in this respect.”
A relative of the Iranian national, Hassan Faraji, imprisoned in Azerbaijan Republic for walking past Israel’s Embassy in Baku, told Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on Monday that Faraji is being tortured by Azeri security officials to make confessions in favor of Israel.
Afkham said following the news, Iranian Embassy in Baku took preliminary actions and it is now following up on the issue.
She pointed to Tehran’s continued correspondence with the Azeri officials and the meetings with Azeri diplomats in Iran and said Tehran has strongly urged Baku to cooperate on the matter.
Iran to host ECO meeting
Afkham stated that Tehran will host the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) on November 24-26.
She expressed optimism that the ECO will play a more active role in the promotion of regional cooperation in different cultural, economic and social spheres.
ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among member states. The organization was expanded in 1992 to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
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